Pakistan asserted its dominance in the men’s javelin throw final at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, where Arshad Nadeem successfully defended his title while teammate Muhammad Yasir clinched silver. The star thrower, coming off a celebrated Olympic season, was the clear favourite from the outset, with his personal best of 92.97m towering over the rest of the competitors.
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Arshad took early control of the seven-man contest, becoming the only athlete to cross the 80m mark. Despite appearing dissatisfied with most of his attempts, he sealed the gold medal with an 83.05m throw on his second attempt—well short of his previous edition’s record-breaking 88.55m but enough to maintain his lead. His final throw of 77.98m was merely ceremonial, as he bowed in gratitude before celebrating with fans.
Yasir, meanwhile, produced a dramatic finish. After a series of modest attempts in the low 70m range, he surged ahead in his final throw, registering 76.04m to overtake Nigeria’s Samuel Adams Kure, who settled for bronze with 76.01m. With this, Pakistan completed a remarkable one-two finish in the discipline.
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The strong performance added two more medals to Pakistan’s tally, which now stands at four, including earlier bronzes from boxers Fatima Zahra and Qudrat Ullah. A small but spirited crowd at Prince Faisal Bin Stadium celebrated the athletes, waving flags and gathering eagerly to greet the javelin stars. Both Arshad and Yasir expressed gratitude after the event, with Arshad crediting national support for his recovery and success, and Yasir coming close to matching his personal best from earlier this year.